I was looking for a Canyon just to Tow my Boat Then I ran across The Black Z71 With black bow Tie Side steps and bed cover Man I looked with these features what price was Just so happen had the tow Package And wow I purchased it great price Larry Puckett
I have a 2018 Ram Rebel with tow package and tow mirrors. I opted for 3.92 axle with stabilizer bar, 33 gallon gas tank, air ride suspension, and tow mode with brake control. I have a 2020 keystone passport 2950bh with dry weight of 6100. My truck max tow weight is 10,300 which I’m well under, but it’s the payload that I have to keep my eye on. This is my 2nd trailer, first one was a 2017 Wildwood263bhxl with a dry weight of 5900. I pulled that with a 2008 Silverado that maxed out at 6500 tow weight. Not smart, I know now. It pulled the trailer but it’s more about what you can stop safely and get down the road without doing damage to your trucks frame. My new Ram feels safe and gives me peace of mind being well under tow capacity.
Interesting video. You didn’t mention or I didn’t hear about payload for your trailer or I guess the hitch weight on the tongue. I have a 1/2 ton Silverado which we will use initially for towing a travel trailer. We are considering the Rockwood, Grand Design, Jayco, and Cougar trailers that are light weight. Lots of opinions on trucks out there, I am just wanting to be safe and reliable, not to mention affordable. Haha. Thanks again for your video.
Brent Johnson, I may not have mentioned that. I think the manufacturer lists the tongue weight of the trailer at 680lbs, dry weight of 6210lbs and GVWR of about 7400lbs. There are a lot of opinions on 1/2 tons towing travel trailers! Look farther down in the comments and you’ll see a couple🤣 some of it depends on comfort level. This is my first experience towing and I think the trailer is a little long for my taste but I’m learning and getting more comfortable with it. That is one of the reasons I wanted a half ton, to keep us from getting too big of a trailer! Thanks for watching!
I pull a Grand Design 2400Bh UVW of 6024 lbs but loaded it is closer to 7200lbs. The tongue weight is approximately 800 lbs. I started out pulling with a 2018 F150 with 5.0 v8 payload of 1800 lbs, tow package, and tow rating of 9100lbs. The F150 had plenty of pulling power. Like all half tons it was soft in the rear end and we found ourselves maxed out payload wise pulling the trailer and having to leave gear behind we would have liked to load in our bed. The other issue is the F150, like all half tons, was light compared to a heavy duty so we got pushed around a bit by semi push/pull and cross winds. Generally manageable but still a bit unnerving at times. We ended up trading in the F150 for an F350 with payload of 3600 lbs and conventional trailer tow rating of 15000lbs. The GCVWR is 28000 lbs. No more issues with payload. Semi trucks don't push us around when passing, etc. The F350 is more truck than we need with the current trailer but we now have enough truck to upgrade trailers when we retire in a few years. My experience so far....if you plan to tow a relatively heavy trailer a half ton has plenty of power to pull it but not the suspension to carry it and your passengers/gear. Better off getting a 3/4 or 1 ton if you plan to tow on a regular basis. You mileage my vary.
@Fed Guy: sounds like our experiences a very similar! The helper springs really firmed up the truck but we could still feel the truck move a bit from wind or semi trucks. We’ve sold our trailer but would eventually like to upgrade. Thinking about a 1 ton now that Chevy has a more powerful gas motor, diesel is too expense for me😂. Thanks for sharing and for watching, happy trails!
Cliff D what rear end ratio do you have. A lot of the forums I did research on said to get the lowest (I think) ,”numerically higher” ratio. Mine came with 3.42, and the max tow has 3.73. I have no complaints with the ratio I have but I’m not an experienced tower so I may be missing out!! Thanks for watching.
You missed the most important point. Payload. Also as far as your trailer weight, empty or dry weight is meaningless. Take the gross weight, and divide by .13, that is the tongue weight ready to camp. To that add 100 lbs for your wd hitch. Now subtract that number from the ACTUAL PAYLOAD AS NOTED ON THE DRIVERS DOOR JAM. From the remaining number subtract the weight of you, your mates, anything you threw in the bed, and surprise, you’re overloaded. Do the math and show your work, I double dog dare ya.
1. I did mention payload but did not focus on it though it is something people overlook. 2. You are wrong in your calculation, it should be multiply by .13 not divide as that would be 58,738lbs. 3. GVWR is 7636lbs and payload is 1667lbs. If I did the math right 7636x.13 is 993lbs plus Wd hitch @100 is 1093. 1667-1093 is 574. Only family in the truck(570) everything else is in the camper. 574-570 is 4lbs of left over payload. Please feel free to double check my math! I’ve not heard of calculating it this way, often people say 80% of payload which is 7280 for my truck. What I need to do is run the rig in ready to camp configuration to check real numbers. Thanks for watching and giving valuable input.
@@thebadbug7026 Nope. Wrong. Take the payload, subtract the weight of you, your family and everything else going in or on the truck plus 100 lbs for a wd hitch. With the remainder divide by .13, and that is the MAX LOADED weight of the trailer that you can tow with out blowing out payload. With a payload of 1780, let’s subtract 700 lbs for family and dogs, wood gen, etc. Another 100 for the hitch. So 980 lbs left over. 980 divided by .13 is about 7500 lbs, the max loaded weight you can pull without busting payload. Now, I am willing to bet you are OVERLOADED. Drive it over a cat scale on your way to camp loaded for bear. I bet dollars to donuts your over. You might be okay if you are maintaining fidelity with your estimate of family weight, but gen, wood, tent, etc never seem to get counted and most are surprised when going over a scale. I have 2500 lb payload, a cap on the truck, and haul a 25’ trailer for just my wife and myself with a dog. We come within a couple hundred pounds.
@@thebadbug7026 Also, again, the dry weight of the camper is not a useful number. You need to look at the max gross weight of the camper and go backwards from that. What is max weight x .13? Im guessing around 8400lbs max, which works out to about 1100, add 100 for hitch in round numbers. 1200 total, that leaves a little over 500 for you and entire family and camping gear.
@@Gratefulwon GVWR of the trailer is 7636 and the payload of the truck is 1667. Calculating this way is 1667-670(fam &wd) which is 993. 993/.13 is 7638 which is what i should be able to pull without going over my payload. This is within 2lbs of my trailers GVWR. Both the ways you said to calculate I have come within the payload of the truck. I should run it over a cat scale to verify but I would guess my trailer loaded is at 7200lbs.
@@Gratefulwon I'm amazed by how many folks try to justify towing these size trailers with a 1/2 ton truck see it all the time on TH-cam and on the road and in campgrounds and it's no big deal that they are putting them self their families and others on the road at risk. I believe about half or more 1/2 ton tower's are doing this . Creepycharly I agree with you 100 %.
Sam Fascione the 5.3 with max tow package is rated for about 11,000 and that is what I was trying to find as I knew I wasn’t going to find a 6.2 with max tow to get the 12,500. Max tow and 6.2 motors are hard to find in my area!
Proud Dad it is 33’long and 6210 dry weight. Having driven both the 5.3 and 6.2 I’d say go 6.2 just because it’s such an amazing engine! But I can’t knock the 5.3 it has been a good motor, I’m just power hungry, unfortunately there wasn’t any available when we made our purchase. Either way you won’t be disappointed ! Good luck with your purchase!
John Ladetto depends on the width of your TT,are you comfortable with what you can see out of your mirrors,if not you should get some mirror extensions
John Ladetto absolutely! I bought the Cipa brand that slip on over the factory ones and they help improve visibility. One day I’d like to upgrade to the factory camper mirrors.
@@thebadbug7026 if you don’t mind me asking where did you get the slip on mirrors to go over the factory ones? I have a 2018 Z 71 with the towing package. Just bought a toy hauler, dry weight is 5800 pounds, have the 342 rear end. Getting the equalizer hitch. Hopefully will have no problems. Want to put a side-by-side in the back that weighs about 1500 pounds. Be about 7500 pounds overall. Hope I will be good to go.
@@twig7105 I forget where I got them, maybe Amazon. They are the Cipa brand, around $50 when I bought them a couple years ago. I think if you can stay around that 7500 Mark you should be good, just watch your speed! I think our trailer is around 7,000 ready to camp and it pulls fine.
DO NOT TOW WITH A HALF TON PAYLOAD PAYLOAD PAYLOAD!!! your getting 4 MPG with a 31-33 gallon tank in a half ton MAX TOWING SPECS... i can go 600 miles on a 36 gallon tank in my 03 f350 4x4 7.3 lariat average 15mpg including towing ( 14k towing about 10 MPG maxed out) AND the new fords get over 20 MPG unloaded and never under 12 towing ive seen it first hand... not getting a diesel while towing any REAL amount of weight is just foolish and makes you look stupid in the towing world and a safety concern alot of people forget that diesels have MUCH more stopping power for braking plus the new ones have exhaust brakes or engine brakes thats WORLDS safer to tow with... just buy the diesel they run 3x longer and upkeep costs arent that much if you take it to anywhere other than the dealership and the biggest thing is TRUCK WEIGHT (mine weights right at 8500 pounds) no one with any dam sense is going to pull 8500+ pounds any longer than 25 miles tops with a 5500-6500 pound truck soundly at that point its just unsafe because an f150 can "tow 12k" but i know dam well without trailer brakes if they were to fail it wont stop it safely... because in the world of towing its not how much can you get moving its HOW MUCH CAN U STOP SAFELY? all i care about is towing safety please everyone tow safely and keep your distance and dont ride up peoples asses leave PLENTY of room for braking!!!
@Tucson Jack; We went with a half to to try and keep the trailer size down since this was our first experience towing. We knew if we had the extra capability we’d get something we weren’t comfortable hauling. Now that Chevy has a gas option that actually has some power we are looking at going with a 3500 and call it good! Thanks for watching!
@@thebadbug7026 thats just a lack of self control... getting a 3/4 ton while pulling a smaller trailer is YEARS safer and much easier for those new to towing...
Really believe the way you have outfitted your truck is excellent but with those upgrades and the HD tow package you have I still think that a 7000 GVWR would be the maximum safe weight for your truck and if you didn’t have the upgrades I’d say 6000 GVWR max. Don’t forget to figure out if your GCWR is within limits too. Very important for safety.
Bud Lamy thanks for the comments! I agree, half tons are more capable than ever but they are still half tons and and I don’t want to exceed or push the trucks limits. GCWR is often overlooked.
What did you look for in your truck?
I was looking for a Canyon just to Tow my Boat Then I ran across The Black Z71 With black bow Tie Side steps and bed cover Man I looked with these features what price was Just so happen had the tow Package And wow I purchased it great price Larry Puckett
If you're towing I always look for a 3/4 ton.
I have a 2018 Ram Rebel with tow package and tow mirrors. I opted for 3.92 axle with stabilizer bar, 33 gallon gas tank, air ride suspension, and tow mode with brake control. I have a 2020 keystone passport 2950bh with dry weight of 6100. My truck max tow weight is 10,300 which I’m well under, but it’s the payload that I have to keep my eye on. This is my 2nd trailer, first one was a 2017 Wildwood263bhxl with a dry weight of 5900. I pulled that with a 2008 Silverado that maxed out at 6500 tow weight. Not smart, I know now. It pulled the trailer but it’s more about what you can stop safely and get down the road without doing damage to your trucks frame. My new Ram feels safe and gives me peace of mind being well under tow capacity.
Interesting video. You didn’t mention or I didn’t hear about payload for your trailer or I guess the hitch weight on the tongue. I have a 1/2 ton Silverado which we will use initially for towing a travel trailer. We are considering the Rockwood, Grand Design, Jayco, and Cougar trailers that are light weight. Lots of opinions on trucks out there, I am just wanting to be safe and reliable, not to mention affordable. Haha. Thanks again for your video.
Brent Johnson, I may not have mentioned that. I think the manufacturer lists the tongue weight of the trailer at 680lbs, dry weight of 6210lbs and GVWR of about 7400lbs. There are a lot of opinions on 1/2 tons towing travel trailers! Look farther down in the comments and you’ll see a couple🤣 some of it depends on comfort level. This is my first experience towing and I think the trailer is a little long for my taste but I’m learning and getting more comfortable with it. That is one of the reasons I wanted a half ton, to keep us from getting too big of a trailer! Thanks for watching!
I just purchased a Max tow Silverado Z71 it's seems to perform very well and your right there hard to find
@Reggie Richardson, congrats on your purchase, very lucky to get a max tow! Did you get the 5.3 or did you luck out and find a 6.2?
@@thebadbug7026 5.3 With the sport Launch Program
I pull a Grand Design 2400Bh UVW of 6024 lbs but loaded it is closer to 7200lbs. The tongue weight is approximately 800 lbs. I started out pulling with a 2018 F150 with 5.0 v8 payload of 1800 lbs, tow package, and tow rating of 9100lbs. The F150 had plenty of pulling power. Like all half tons it was soft in the rear end and we found ourselves maxed out payload wise pulling the trailer and having to leave gear behind we would have liked to load in our bed. The other issue is the F150, like all half tons, was light compared to a heavy duty so we got pushed around a bit by semi push/pull and cross winds. Generally manageable but still a bit unnerving at times. We ended up trading in the F150 for an F350 with payload of 3600 lbs and conventional trailer tow rating of 15000lbs. The GCVWR is 28000 lbs. No more issues with payload. Semi trucks don't push us around when passing, etc. The F350 is more truck than we need with the current trailer but we now have enough truck to upgrade trailers when we retire in a few years. My experience so far....if you plan to tow a relatively heavy trailer a half ton has plenty of power to pull it but not the suspension to carry it and your passengers/gear. Better off getting a 3/4 or 1 ton if you plan to tow on a regular basis. You mileage my vary.
@Fed Guy: sounds like our experiences a very similar! The helper springs really firmed up the truck but we could still feel the truck move a bit from wind or semi trucks. We’ve sold our trailer but would eventually like to upgrade. Thinking about a 1 ton now that Chevy has a more powerful gas motor, diesel is too expense for me😂. Thanks for sharing and for watching, happy trails!
I have the same truck in red. 2018. I plan to tow a Rockwood 2608 which has a dry weight mid 6000s.
Cliff D what rear end ratio do you have. A lot of the forums I did research on said to get the lowest (I think) ,”numerically higher” ratio. Mine came with 3.42, and the max tow has 3.73. I have no complaints with the ratio I have but I’m not an experienced tower so I may be missing out!! Thanks for watching.
You missed the most important point. Payload. Also as far as your trailer weight, empty or dry weight is meaningless. Take the gross weight, and divide by .13, that is the tongue weight ready to camp. To that add 100 lbs for your wd hitch. Now subtract that number from the ACTUAL PAYLOAD AS NOTED ON THE DRIVERS DOOR JAM. From the remaining number subtract the weight of you, your mates, anything you threw in the bed, and surprise, you’re overloaded. Do the math and show your work, I double dog dare ya.
1. I did mention payload but did not focus on it though it is something people overlook.
2. You are wrong in your calculation, it should be multiply by .13 not divide as that would be 58,738lbs.
3. GVWR is 7636lbs and payload is 1667lbs. If I did the math right 7636x.13 is 993lbs plus Wd hitch @100 is 1093. 1667-1093 is 574. Only family in the truck(570) everything else is in the camper. 574-570 is 4lbs of left over payload. Please feel free to double check my math!
I’ve not heard of calculating it this way, often people say 80% of payload which is 7280 for my truck. What I need to do is run the rig in ready to camp configuration to check real numbers. Thanks for watching and giving valuable input.
@@thebadbug7026 Nope. Wrong. Take the payload, subtract the weight of you, your family and everything else going in or on the truck plus 100 lbs for a wd hitch. With the remainder divide by .13, and that is the MAX LOADED weight of the trailer that you can tow with out blowing out payload. With a payload of 1780, let’s subtract 700 lbs for family and dogs, wood gen, etc. Another 100 for the hitch. So 980 lbs left over. 980 divided by .13 is about 7500 lbs, the max loaded weight you can pull without busting payload. Now, I am willing to bet you are OVERLOADED. Drive it over a cat scale on your way to camp loaded for bear. I bet dollars to donuts your over. You might be okay if you are maintaining fidelity with your estimate of family weight, but gen, wood, tent, etc never seem to get counted and most are surprised when going over a scale. I have 2500 lb payload, a cap on the truck, and haul a 25’ trailer for just my wife and myself with a dog. We come within a couple hundred pounds.
@@thebadbug7026 Also, again, the dry weight of the camper is not a useful number. You need to look at the max gross weight of the camper and go backwards from that. What is max weight x .13? Im guessing around 8400lbs max, which works out to about 1100, add 100 for hitch in round numbers. 1200 total, that leaves a little over 500 for you and entire family and camping gear.
@@Gratefulwon GVWR of the trailer is 7636 and the payload of the truck is 1667. Calculating this way is 1667-670(fam &wd) which is 993. 993/.13 is 7638 which is what i should be able to pull without going over my payload. This is within 2lbs of my trailers GVWR. Both the ways you said to calculate I have come within the payload of the truck. I should run it over a cat scale to verify but I would guess my trailer loaded is at 7200lbs.
@@Gratefulwon I'm amazed by how many folks try to justify towing these size trailers with a 1/2 ton truck see it all the time on TH-cam and on the road and in campgrounds and it's no big deal that they are putting them self their families and others on the road at risk. I believe about half or more 1/2 ton tower's are doing this . Creepycharly I agree with you 100 %.
how much is it rated for towing?
Sam Fascione 9100lbs. That is with the 5.3 and 6spd transmission with 3.42 gears.
@@thebadbug7026 wow that's a far stretch from the 6.2l at 12500lbs
Sam Fascione the 5.3 with max tow package is rated for about 11,000 and that is what I was trying to find as I knew I wasn’t going to find a 6.2 with max tow to get the 12,500. Max tow and 6.2 motors are hard to find in my area!
What is the length and weight of your camper? I am going back and forth between buying a 5.3 with max towing or the 6.2.
Proud Dad it is 33’long and 6210 dry weight. Having driven both the 5.3 and 6.2 I’d say go 6.2 just because it’s such an amazing engine! But I can’t knock the 5.3 it has been a good motor, I’m just power hungry, unfortunately there wasn’t any available when we made our purchase. Either way you won’t be disappointed ! Good luck with your purchase!
I have a 2018 Chevy LT 5.3. Getting ready to buy a 26 ft TT. Do you recommend getting towing mirrors installed?
John Ladetto depends on the width of your TT,are you comfortable with what you can see out of your mirrors,if not you should get some mirror extensions
John Ladetto absolutely! I bought the Cipa brand that slip on over the factory ones and they help improve visibility. One day I’d like to upgrade to the factory camper mirrors.
The Bad Bug thanks for BBC the response. I will likely end up getting towing mirrors installed at the dealership
@@thebadbug7026 if you don’t mind me asking where did you get the slip on mirrors to go over the factory ones? I have a 2018 Z 71 with the towing package. Just bought a toy hauler, dry weight is 5800 pounds, have the 342 rear end. Getting the equalizer hitch. Hopefully will have no problems. Want to put a side-by-side in the back that weighs about 1500 pounds. Be about 7500 pounds overall. Hope I will be good to go.
@@twig7105 I forget where I got them, maybe Amazon. They are the Cipa brand, around $50 when I bought them a couple years ago. I think if you can stay around that 7500 Mark you should be good, just watch your speed! I think our trailer is around 7,000 ready to camp and it pulls fine.
DO NOT TOW WITH A HALF TON PAYLOAD PAYLOAD PAYLOAD!!! your getting 4 MPG with a 31-33 gallon tank in a half ton MAX TOWING SPECS... i can go 600 miles on a 36 gallon tank in my 03 f350 4x4 7.3 lariat average 15mpg including towing ( 14k towing about 10 MPG maxed out) AND the new fords get over 20 MPG unloaded and never under 12 towing ive seen it first hand... not getting a diesel while towing any REAL amount of weight is just foolish and makes you look stupid in the towing world and a safety concern alot of people forget that diesels have MUCH more stopping power for braking plus the new ones have exhaust brakes or engine brakes thats WORLDS safer to tow with... just buy the diesel they run 3x longer and upkeep costs arent that much if you take it to anywhere other than the dealership and the biggest thing is TRUCK WEIGHT (mine weights right at 8500 pounds) no one with any dam sense is going to pull 8500+ pounds any longer than 25 miles tops with a 5500-6500 pound truck soundly at that point its just unsafe because an f150 can "tow 12k" but i know dam well without trailer brakes if they were to fail it wont stop it safely... because in the world of towing its not how much can you get moving its HOW MUCH CAN U STOP SAFELY?
all i care about is towing safety please everyone tow safely and keep your distance and dont ride up peoples asses leave PLENTY of room for braking!!!
I would look for a 2500HD.. but that’s just me
@Tucson Jack; We went with a half to to try and keep the trailer size down since this was our first experience towing. We knew if we had the extra capability we’d get something we weren’t comfortable hauling. Now that Chevy has a gas option that actually has some power we are looking at going with a 3500 and call it good! Thanks for watching!
@@thebadbug7026 thats just a lack of self control... getting a 3/4 ton while pulling a smaller trailer is YEARS safer and much easier for those new to towing...
Really believe the way you have outfitted your truck is excellent but with those upgrades and the HD tow package you have I still think that a 7000 GVWR would be the maximum safe weight for your truck and if you didn’t have the upgrades I’d say 6000 GVWR max. Don’t forget to figure out if your GCWR is within limits too. Very important for safety.
Bud Lamy thanks for the comments! I agree, half tons are more capable than ever but they are still half tons and and I don’t want to exceed or push the trucks limits. GCWR is often overlooked.
Talk to much!
Did it pull it or not
Yep, thanks for watching.
You sound like BatMan lol
Chuck Faulknor best comment ever!!